Watch Your Step

Black and tan markings made my heart go pitter pat until I could see that the head was not diamond shaped and the tail had no rattles on this snake that cruised through the milking room.  (Pardon the housekeeping; mice throw the diaper wipes out of the bucket as they search for just the right blanket.)  Close to two feet long and pencil slim, it was a pretty little thing.  Not being up on my herpetology, I'm guessing it was a gopher snake just looking for breakfast. 

It might be asked how I can feed, save, and protect mice and squirrels and let this predator continue to hunt the little creatures.  I've got understanding of and respect for natural conservation.  With the exception of rattlesnakes and black-widow spiders (and, yes, mosquitoes), I don't believe in lethal intervention.  The food chain is as clear to me as a printed graph.  I know full well that the coyotes are not singing for pleasure in the night; they're hunting.  I've never been able to figure out the mosquitoes' purpose in the plan, but for almost everything else, I take a live-and-let-live attitude.  I will, however, watch my step in the barn.  It would behoove the snake to also watch where it goes, as the last snake I found in the barn had been squashed flat by the goats.

Little kids, cats and dogs, water and food dishes on the floor (for the cats and dogs, not the children) have made me conscious over the years of where I'm stepping, so it's second nature to look down.  That's a good habit in the Silkie pen, and not just because of the mini-chickens.  A family of frogs has moved into a burrow under the coop.  Last night, one of the little squirts had decorated himself with feathers stuck to his back.  Had this "feather" not hopped out of my way, I might not have noticed it.

I have had to relocate the praying mantis once again.  The petunia pot where I'd put her was directly under the hummingbird feeder and the other morning I found she'd moved up to the feeder.  Had I not just had a conversation with Camille about her, I would never given it a second thought, believing it would be a good place for Ms. Mantis to catch the bees, wasps, and ants that hang around the feeding station.  Not sure I believed what Camille had told me, I had to Google and see for myself that praying mantises can and will kill and eat hummingbirds, lizards, and frogs.  Unreal!  In this case, I simply moved her away from the source of temptation.